CLEMENTINE BEAUVAIS, THE FEATHER AND THE SAINT INTERVIEW SEPTEMBER 28, 2021Clementine Beauvais_03
According to family legend, Saint Marguerite-Marie Alacoque is a very distant relative of this successful writer, teacher-researcher at the University of York. During an investigation to unravel the mystery and a funny and very spirited face-to-face, Clémentine Beauvais makes us discover – or rediscover – the extraordinary personality of this 17th century mystic. An arch-famous saint and yet completely unknown to ordinary mortals
….COMMENTS COLLECTED BY ALEXANDRE MEYER
Who do you want to reach with this book?
I’m not sure, this book is so different from my usual work… To be honest, I rather wondered who would be shocked more: believers or iconoclasts? I didn’t want to shock either one or the other, but to build a bridge between the two without writing a cutesy, lukewarm book. I have nothing against the consensual but it should not be watered down either!
What struck you the most in the course of the life of Saint Margaret Mary?
The first thing I can’t explain is his writing, very unusual for his time. The way she describes the events she lived through, the way she goes back to her previous writings and her feelings is a very modern, very romantic process. I didn’t have a preconceived opinion, but I didn’t expect it to be so interesting in form. The second thing is how she modulates, how she negotiates the intensity of her experiences to make them manageable. She leads a life of incredible intensity through her visions, her burning faith, her passion for Christ… And, paradoxically, she erects a number of barriers to channel them, alone or with the competent authorities, by outlining strategies . The more intense the faith, the passion or the visions, the more one would be tempted to give free rein to them, while it spends most of its time trying to restrain them.
Did you write this book to fulfill a family duty?
No. The ancestor and transmission side even made me rather suspicious. No one in the family has ever prided themselves on being a great-great-great-grandnephew of the saint! It had even become a joke between us… But it was worth looking into!
“I identified with his intense life
”Did you immerse yourself in this story out of curiosity, out of a taste for risk?
This book was born at the request of Hélène Mongin, my editor. There is sometimes a book which, during your existence, needs to come out at this precise moment. We don’t know why, but we find out later. My grandmother was starting to lose her memory, I was pregnant and I have shared my life with a practicing Catholic for two years. This combination of factors led me to find this subject delusional at first and then, suddenly, very interesting. This is how an idea that would have made me laugh at any other time in my life became reality. I didn’t know for what purpose I was writing it, but in retrospect, I see that the book served its purpose.
Despite your claimed skepticism, weren’t you hoping that God would come and touch you in turn?
There is always a good reason to look into this or that subject, to try to elucidate an aspect of reality: a psychological, psychoanalytical reason… The situation in which I found myself turned my whole life upside down. I lived in an environment that was the exact opposite of the one that welcomed me: leftist, progressive, feminist, intersectional, millennial. A completely hermetic environment. Admitting that I was with someone Catholic was impossible. I searched and managed to digest this fact that changed the course of my existence.
You wanted to understand at the crossroads of which paths you were?
The project joined my desire to reconcile two parts of my life. I lived through years of feminist militancy, a convinced atheist, certain that monotheistic religions were the biggest anti-feminist enterprises and the worst patriarchal institutions in the world, and now, thanks to my companion, I entered the Catholic world in spite of myself. . Marguerite-Marie was a figure through whom I could bring together these very different aspects of my life.
What do you mean ?
This investigation joined my interest in women who left their mark on history. I didn’t go to talk about God, Jesus Christ or the Sacred Heart: I wanted to talk about Marguerite-Marie. Until I realized that I couldn’t talk about her without talking about the rest…I could have written a feminist rehabilitation of the character by talking very little about her, but I didn’t want to betray her. It may be anachronistic or abusive to talk about feminism, but the fate of this woman is horrific.s common! When I read Marguerite-Marie talking about her visions, I absolutely believe her and, at the same time, she becomes for me a character in a novel. When you visit the family farm, it is very striking. She could have married, lived a simple life, but there was in her this thirst for immense intensity. This little kid from Burgundy could walk for miles and miles in the cold just to get to church… Even though her family was pious, she had always lived in another dimension.
In short, is the key to understanding faith?
Absolutely ! I come from a very mystical family on my father’s side. I grew up with a vision of a world that has supernatural aspects, but I never interpreted it in a religious or Christian way. Linking the two is still beyond me.
You say you were a little afraid of finding yourself among the mad when you went to hear mass with your companion. Verdict?
I found it fun, honestly. (Laughs.) Cheerful, good-natured, personable and sincere. I am convinced that there can be bridges between communities even in disagreement on far from trivial societal issues. We have to find a way to find ourselves on the same ground. We may not understand each other, fail to rally someone to his cause through argument. On the other hand, we can find common characters and stories that allow us to empathize with the other. Even if you ideologically condemn someone, you can enter their system and end up developing compassion, an understanding of the situation and the person. We must promote permeability and literature is an excellent way to achieve this.
“Marguerite-Marie has a very lively personality, including for someone who does not have faith. His sincerity speaks to everyone
.Faith may not be in the genes, but what did you find in yourself from this distant ancestor?
I identified with her writing, her intense life, her interest in youth and childhood, her certainty that the whole world is a fabric of signs that generate great combinations of circumstances. Touched by her ideal of sincerity, I wanted to reproduce it in this book.
You say that Marguerite-Marie is modern because she wants to burn, to live intensely, is this an example to follow?
Yes ! She lives in the overflow, it is admirable. Like Teresa of Avila, she has a very lively personality, even for someone who does not have faith. Their excesses and sincerity speak to everyone.
Do you understand the desire of the saint that you relate in your book, to remain hidden, to leave the light to God?
Narcissism and humility are present everywhere, intermingle. In her thinking and her way of life, the only thing that counts is the message she had to convey. It would have been a shame to burn her writings as she nevertheless requested, because it is through her words that history could be written. Otherwise there would be nothing. Devotion to the Sacred Heart exists today because it has told the story, it has had the extraordinary ability to narrate its unique experience with Christ.
Her BOOK Saint Margaret Mary and me Quasar Editions, 2021, 248 pages, €16.
In FRENCH
Source: CLÉMENTINE BEAUVAIS, LA PLUME ET LA SAINTE – L’1visible (l1visible.com)
Book: St Marguerite Marie et Moi
ITS ORGANICClémentine Beauvais is the author of around twenty successful books, including Les Petites Reines (Sarbacane, 2015, 288 pages, €15.50. 100,000 copies sold and winner of numerous awards).
Translated by website